In a statement in the House of Commons on Thursday, Foreign Office minister Stephen Doughty said the decision came after the publication this week of emails Mandelson sent to Epstein.

“In light of the additional information in emails written by Peter Mandelson, the prime minister has asked the foreign secretary to withdraw him as ambassador,” the Foreign Office said in a statement.

“The emails show that the depth and extent of Peter Mandelson’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein is materially different from that known at the time of his appointment,” it added.

On Wednesday, The Sun newspaper published emails that it said showed Mandelson telling Epstein to “fight for early release” shortly before Epstein was sentenced to 18 months in prison.

“I think the world of you,” Mandelson told him before he began his sentence for soliciting prostitution from a minor in June 2008.

The emails were published after the Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released a 50th birthday album compiled in 2003 for Epstein, who at the time was a wealthy and well-connected financier. In that album, Mandelson called Epstein “my best pal” in a handwritten note.